Hey guys! so im thinking of fully committing to jazz , going to school for it next year etc, hoping that it will make me a better rock player/all styles. then hopefully going over to a contemporary music school:), what are your opinions?

I agree. The only thing is, after you learn Jazz, I am pretty certain you will understand pretty much everything there is to know about contemporary music. If you can play Jazz well, then you are a force to be reckoned with. You can transfer everything you learn to every style as well.

All in all, so long as you teach yourself contemporary music(this will become severely easy after studying Jazz at a music school) you should be able to play whatever you want. I think you should just commit to Jazz most of the time, and study some Classical as well. May I ask what school you are going to?

thanks for your advice! and im up here in canada so im either going to capilano university's jazz program, or selkirk college contemporary music program (in nelson BC) which is actually great because they have a special understanding with berklee in which you do your first 2 years at selkirk and then you can transfer over to berklee, the money i save is ridiculous!

I think understanding Jazz harmony and being able to apply it will make you a good all round musician. Though commiting fully to Jazz will make you a better Jazz guitarist not rock guitarist.

I almost went there myself I lived in Ontario for a short while. Good choice.

Here is a paraphrase of some wise words from Emily Remler.

"The time I spent at Berklee taught me everything I needed to know about theory, scales, and chords, but it didn't teach me how to play. It wasn't until I moved to New Orleans and started sitting in that everything started coming together."

thanks for that:)
yeah technique wise i really need some work, ive been consistently playing 4 hours a day for a few months, gotta keep it up though i really want to get my speed and overall technique well before i head to school. excited as hell!

Play as often as you can. Once you have to work, you will never have that chance again.

If only I had been able to quite videogames a bit earlier.

Thats why i plan at least 5 years of school for music: )
so i wont have to work, i can just work my ass off on the guitar for that time. as of right now 4 hours is the maximum i can possibly do with part time work and other obligations

Good decision!

Yes it does! When you are learning to play jazz you are learning to understand music better! The biggest problem I have seen that a lot of great Jazz players being carried away and can't play simple anymore so it is a very thin line between understanding and over using!

I think it all depends if you're really into jazz or not. If your heart is not into it, you probably won't get as much out of that time as you would if it was something you were really passionate about.

Also, like Alex said, you could come out of it playing much more complex material, which is fine, if thats what you want to do. But the beauty of Rock music is its relative simplicity.

Mudbone and Alex have a great point on this matter

As I see it, Jazz will improve you as a player and a musician, but it's very easy to fall in the pit and becoming 'Mr. Sophisticated' Use jazz to understand music and be able to work your way through the musical experiences in your life, but don't overuse it

I look at learning jazzy stuff, as of a way to bring a certain flavor to my playing

Cosmin

Yeah I think we've all got the same idea on it really.. it will definitely be a great thing to do It's easier if you really like jazz, so then you can really immerse yourself in it and learn so much.



Never lose site of this, though... you become good at what you do, not what you don't !

True words of wisdom from Ben

I enjoy jazz to an extent, after that point it's not that I don't like it anymore but I feel I need that raw energy that only rock will deliver

It sounds like you haven't explored Bebop

Not at all but I do not dislike it

I was just messing around. I agree completely. Bebop can't evoke the same emotions as modern rock or metal. We do have to thank the creators for beginning that movement. Because now we have other forms of music that are awesome.

I think the best idea is to learn how the music works! This way you will be able to play in any kind of style!
Will use myself as an example If I will ever get a gig and will have to play let's say country guitar! I can do it because I understand the system and what to play in this style! I will "fake" it because it's not my main style but average listener won't be able to tell the difference! Same thing works with every style and as soon as you understand the concept you can "fake" it

Jazz is insanely brilliant, yet frustratingly dry to me. After awhile the dynamics of it are just displeasing to me, hardest thing in the world to play.

Sure, playing those epic Dragonforce, Origin, or Tech-Death solos is hard, but the phrasing in Jazz is just unreal.

Everyone has some Great points here. Learning Jazz is a hard thing to do but well worth it as it will give you theory chops, playing chops, crazy chord chops, lead chops, etc. All of this can be applied to any style really with some distortion/fx/etc. and a bit of tweaking. A KILLER player named CHRIS POLAND who was an early player in Megadeth is a big Jazz guy that also plays metal. He plays more Jazz stuff now in a band called OHM. Just one example, but yeah, go to school and learn Jazz!


Todd





This post has been edited by Todd Simpson: Jun 2 2012, 05:06 AM